Читать книгу Great Mountain Days in the Pennines. 50 classic hillwalking routes онлайн

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No one has yet come up with a valid explanation for the Nine Standards – the monoliths found on the summit. They stand on the former county boundary between Westmorland and the North Riding of Yorkshire, and that may be explanation enough, but unlikely given the effort involved. Happily, after a prolonged period of neglect, the cairns have seen much restoration in recent years and are worthy of heritage protection.

The cairns have long been dismissed as late medieval at best, but recent research has shown that the nine cairns appear on old maps, and reference has been found in documents from the Brough Court indicating their existence as early as 1507, and possibly much earlier. Low-level oblique aerial photographs of the summit reveal the possible outline of a rectangular enclosure with the cairns running diagonally through it, and this may indicate some underlying archaeology.

On a fine day there are few vantage points that provide a wider or more inspiring panorama over wild moorlands. The highest point of the summit ridge is actually at the nearby trig pillar, but the view from there is nothing like so impressive.